SHORELINE — The Peninsula College women’s basketball team clinched the outright Northwest Athletic Conference North Region title with an 81-46 drubbing of Shoreline.
Saturday’s win resulted in the second straight North Region championship for the defending NWAC-champion Pirates (13-1, 22-5).
“It’s a great feeling,” Peninsula coach Alison Crumb said.
“The girls have put in a lot of work and a lot of time and it’s nice that our plans are coming to fruition.
“And hopefully we can use that to do some damage in the playoffs.”
Under the NWAC’s new postseason format, the Pirates will host a single-elimination first round contest at 3 p.m. Saturday against the East Region’s No. 4 seed, Treasure Valley (9-5, 18-10).
The Peninsula men, also outright North Region champs, will follow with a playoff game against Chemeketa (9-7, 18-11) at 5 p.m.
Tickets are $10 for adults; $7 for students, children ages 7-12, and seniors 60 and older, and free for children 6 and younger.
Peninsula College will not be allowed to accept Pirate Athletic Association membership passes, according to athletic director Rick Ross.
Women’s Game
Peninsula 81, Shoreline 46
Saturday’s win may have come at a high cost.
Cierra Moss, Peninsula’s leading scorer at 15.58 points per game, injured her knee.
She will undergo an MRI today.
“Cierra kind of banged up her knee, and her patella tendon is sore, but we won’t know the full extent until the MRI,” Crumb said.
Crumb also confirmed that post Tai Thomas has a cracked bone in her foot against Olympic earlier this month and will sit out the remainder of the season.
“We were able to play the reserves more against Shoreline,” Crumb said.
“That may come in handy as we may need the reserves more than we anticipated.
“But that’s what happens this time of year. We have to play through it.”
Against Shoreline,the Pirates doubled up the Dolphins to lead 24-12 after one quarter, and nearly pulled off the feat in the second period for a 46-24 halftime lead.
Zhara Laster’s all-around game led Peninsula.
She scored 13 points and added five rebounds and four steals in just over 18 minutes of playing time.
“I limited her minutes pretty heavily in the second half, but she had a great first half and shot the ball really well,” Crumb said.
Laster was 5 of 7 from the floor against Shoreline.
“She was really efficient.
“She’s starting to catch fire a little bit with her scoring. Zhara fills up all the other stat categories, but it’s good to see get her scoring numbers up.”
Jenise McKnight also made the most of her 15 minutes, scoring 12 points with five rebounds and a steal.
Imani Smith added 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal and a block for the Pirates.
Cherish Moss hit 3 of 4 3-pointers to account for her nine points, and also added three assists.
“I think the girls are just ready for the tournament,” Crumb said.
“They are ready to play well and get things started.”
Peninsula 81, Shoreline 46
Peninsula 24 22 19 16— 81
Shoreline 12 12 14 8— 46
Individual scoring
Peninsula (81)
Laster 13, McKnight 12, Smith 12, Rodisha 10, Ch. Moss 9, Hutchins 8, Ci. Moss 7, Gonzales 4, Cooks 4, Criddle 2, Butler, Yayouss.
Shoreline (46)
Dolquist-Larson 12, Abu 10, Jones-Lee 8, Sentman 5, Alem 4, Sanders 4, Curry 3.
Men’s Game
Shoreline 74, Peninsula 63
With a North Regional title and a first-round home playoff game sewn up, the Pirate men cleared the decks and played backups in a loss to the Dolphins.
The defeat snapped Peninsula’s nine-game winning streak.
Deonte Dixon led the Pirates (11-3, 18-10) with 12 points in just 17 minutes of playing time. He added five rebounds and two assists.
Alex Baham scored 10 points for Peninsula, the long-distance specialist connected on 2 of 3 3-pointers.
Omar Lo added nine points and three rebounds.
Chris Reis knocked down two 3s, scoring eight points with three assists.
The Pirates host Chemeketa in the first round of the NWAC tournament at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Shoreline 74, Peninsula 63
Peninsula 38 25 — 63
Shoreline 36 38 — 74
Individual scoring
Peninsula (63)
Dixon 12, Baham 10, Daniels 9, Lo 9, Reis 8, Amos 4, Woods 4, Callaghan 2, Mayeux 2, Hobbs 2, Nibler 1, Cook.
Shoreline (74)
Smarr 18, Baker 13, Jackson 10, Margasa 10, Ghebrehiwot 9, Steinbrueck 6, Kelley 6, Kang 2.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-452-2345, ext. 57050 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
